Sailor Jean Token - Newburyport | Key Chain

About our Key Rings

Our key rings and chains below are cast pewter and made in NE from rare & unique originals from Boston in the 1800s.

Sailor Jean Token - Newburyport

John Albert Krohn, was a Newburyport native and American long-distance walker who billed himself as "Sailor Jean" during his first cross-country walk, in 1903, and as "Colonial Jack in 1908.

 "Sailor Jean" set out on his adventure by pushing his "Trollyette" on foot, & dressed in his sailor’s outfit, entertained people he met along the way while selling souvenir aluminum tokens stamped with his image to help fund his trip and with the intention to visit every state and to write a book upon his return. His wife traveled ahead of him by rail and put up posters announcing his imminent arrival and ensured a restocked of commemorative coins.

This key chain token was cast direct from a rare original.

He never wrote up his book as Sailor Jean but instead, reinvented himself as Colonial Jack several years later and set out once again. This time the ending was different. Upon returning to Newburyport he wrote the book he had planned, “The Walk of Colonial Jack: The Story of a Long-Distance Walker”. He sold it himself by – of course – walking from town to town & published it through several newspapers in New England.

After his wife passed in 1917, and Krohn settled in Salisbury, Mass., where he ran a fruit and vegetable stand and continued selling his tokens and telling stories of his travels. He died in1956 and is buried in Salisbury.

Available polished pewter (to note - the original was aluminum)